Where to you go for objective opinions about homeschooling?

[Once]

This has been rolling around in my head for a while. I seem to have a weird mixture of confidence and insecurity. I know it is not unusual for young homeschoolers to feel insecure and for me it is getting more infrequent but I oscilate between the two. So when you are feeling either way, where do you go for *objective* feedback?

 

These are the thoughts I have. Standardized testing does not evaluate things like character, emotional health and creativity. Family can be an odd mixture of biased and ill informed, especially if they are ps teachers or live distantly. Casual aquaintances and public school families are often not on the same page philosophically. Close friends are, well close friends, and potentially not willing to be critical if there are weaknesses. I hate putting friends in uncomfortable positions. More mature homeschoolers are just too busy to stop and take notice. Yonger homeschoolers just do not have the experience to judge. So, where does that leave a person.

 

Ftr, I am not feeling bad about where we are and for this time of year that is miraculous but I feel insecure enough to wonder if I'm being objective. :huh:

 

Anyone have wisdom they would like to share?

[Lisa R.]

You said, "I know it is not unusual for young homeschoolers to feel insecure and for me it is getting more infrequent but I oscilate between the two."

 

I say that it's not unusual for veteran homeschoolers to feel insecure about their choices.

 

I think you're wise to evaluate yourself and your family. Overconfidence is *not* a good thing. It means you may not be as open as you should to changing directions.

 

However, we don't want to live in an insecure fashion either. We make the best choices we can with the information we have. Right now, I feel that I can provide a better education for my kids than the public schools making use of out-sourced home school high school classes. I'm doing this at a fraction of the price of private school.

 

Also, I'm around my kids more, which means I have more opportunity to guide them. Show me a teenager that doesn't need more guidance. (If you do find this person, please show them the paragraph above about overconfidence.)

 

I think we need to constantly reevaluate what we are doing. This doesn't equal insecurity, though. Do we need to change our house rules? How do my kids interact with others? Do they need more opportunities for social interactions? Have I chosen the curriculum that best suits my child? Do I need to change something next year? Do you see a family who's raising great kids? What are they doing differently?

 

While no parent is ever totally objective, we need to view our kids, other kids, other families and really try to evaluate how they are doing. Strive to figure out what your blind spots are--we all have them. Try and work around this.

 

To answer your question about where to go to seek objective opinions--this is tricky. The first advice I would give is only ask like-minded friends. Again, *only ask like-minded friends.* Asking your neighbor that is the head of the PTA is inviting criticism. Only ask people you consider to be discerning and wise. Ask people who are older than you. Ask people who have kids older than yours.

 

Being somewhere between overconfident and insecure is not necessarily a bad thing.

[elegantlion]

Actually I come here. Where else am I going to get people from all over the world, from all levels of experience and background to get feedback from? I received great personal advice and some mentoring from others that are further along the educational path. I've tried to share some from my experience, we are in our fifth year of homeschooling. I think it's a win-win situation for all.

 

I've learned so much from my year of being on these boards. I've become more confident in my teaching. I still have days when panic mode sets in, but coming here and reading about how others get through the struggles calms my soul.

[melissel]

Actually I come here. Where else am I going to get people from all over the world, from all levels of experience and background to get feedback from? I received great personal advice and some mentoring from others that are further along the educational path. I've tried to share some from my experience, we are in our fifth year of homeschooling. I think it's a win-win situation for all.

 

I've learned so much from my year of being on these boards. I've become more confident in my teaching. I still have days when panic mode sets in, but coming here and reading about how others get through the struggles calms my soul.

 

I feel exactly the same way. Actually, I come here for just about everything these days. The Hive almost always has good advice for me, and can offer so many perspectives that I could never benefit from anywhere else.

[LisaKinVA]

It helps to have a set of measurable goals for each child you can look at and see the progress (beyond finishing the book).

 

For example, my goals for the 5yo might be something like: 1) Penmanship -- holds pencil correctly when forming letters. 2)Complete Abeka phonics program, with a clear understanding of the sounds and blends used to sound out words, successfully sounding out words in accompanying readers. 3) Firmly grasp addition and subtraction concepts, measurement concepts, can skip count 2's, 5's and 10's, can count to 25 and backwards from 10...

 

For character issues, we pick one at a time and work on those as a family (right now, ours is picking up after ourselves), this one has easilly measurable progress :D

 

I do use standardized testing as a tool, as well (I've found them very helpful), for writing, because I find I can't be objective on that subject, we use the BJU writing evaluations at the beginning and end of the year.

[Once]

I do use standardized testing as a tool, as well (I've found them very helpful), for writing, because I find I can't be objective on that subject, we use the BJU writing evaluations at the beginning and end of the year.

 

I have not heard of the BJU writing test. Could you tell me more about it or link me to a site? This is one area in which I feel inadequate to evaluate. How do you use it? Do you send it away or is it a set of standards to follow? Things like that.

 

Thanks for mentioning this. It is off my radar.

[LisaKinVA]

Here's the link http://www.bjupress.com/services/testing/writing_evaluations.php

 

You can choose between a couple of types of papers. They will mail you a little booklet (4 printed pages) page 1 is instructions, page 2 is space for notes, organization, pages 3 & 4 are for the actual writing. This was the 3rd grade version, anyhow.

 

After your child completes the written work, you send it back to BJU, and one of their instructors will grade it based upon a scale and sent everything back to you. It was just what we needed to help get my son to focus on what he needed to do for writing, versus what he wanted to do for writing (sometimes, he thinks he knows everything and doesn't like taking instruction from me:tongue_smilie:... so this REALLY helped with that).

[Once]

Elegantlion and Melissel, I come here for that standard as well and I think it is good. Thank-you for you ideas. I have to think about this some more.

[MIch elle]

So when you are feeling either way, where do you go for *objective* feedback?

 

Younger homeschoolers just do not have the experience to judge. So, where does that leave a person.

 

Anyone have wisdom they would like to share?

 

For me it's in the books - reading highly recommended homeschool books like The Well Trained Mind and others as well as in the school curricula we use. It's also taking the time to look around for better materials/curricula if that is appropriate. I've found the right combination of helpful advice and curricula that helps us evaluate through the curricula's tests. That doesn't help with the other stuff - character, etc. but it can - like CLE reading is full of character training & interesting stories, and using the Bible and following Jesus' example.

 

There is no "one" that give me objective advice, but I've learned a LOT by reading these boards over the years. The "hive", as in the collective information found here when read over years, can help you see what you're not able to alone.